3/16 Pillbug, caffeine, Skagit dams, Phillips 66, Snoqualmie Tribe, North Shore wastewater, Trust2022, WA-BC Nooksack flood, catching methane, clean energy $s

Oregon pillbug [Sound Water Stewards]

Oregon pillbug Gnorimosphaeroma oregonense
This little isopod looks very much like a pillbug and if you pick it up, it will roll up in a little ball. It only gets about ½ inch long. Watch for it under rocks or in clumps of mussels. Where you find one, you'll often find large numbers of them. They prefer areas of low salinity. Good luck pronouncing its scientific name! If you have problems with it, the common name is Oregon pillbug. (Sound Water Stewards)

How Your Caffeine Addiction Is Hurting Marine Life
Lab trials show caffeine has a range of negative effects on marine species. Larry Pynn reports. (Hakai Magazine)

Seattle City Light takes next step toward dam relicensing
Seattle City Light, which operates three hydroelectric dams on the upper Skagit River, last week released initial results from 33 studies it has agreed to do as part of its relicensing process. What is called an Initial Study Report was filed March 8 with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will determine whether to reissue a new license for the utility. (Skagit Valley Herald)

Environmental nonprofit claims legal victory over Whatcom refinery, says it will help orca 
According to a Friends of the San Juans news release Tuesday, March 15, the Washington State Court of Appeals on Feb. 28 upheld a previous court’s ruling regarding Phillip 66’s planned expansion of its Ferndale refinery. [It] says it has “scored a decisive legal victory” to help protect Southern Resident killer whales as Phillips 66 looks to expand its fossil-fuel storage facilities in Whatcom County. David Rasbach reports. (Bellingham Herald)

Snoqualmie Tribe's fight to hunt and gather. Now the Supreme Court will weigh in
The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is in a battle with the state of Washington over hunting and gathering rights. In a recently filed petition, the tribe is asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision that says the tribe is not entitled to hunt off reservation, on open unclaimed land managed by the state. Diana Opong reports. (KUOW)

Metro Vancouver moves to restart troubled $1-billion North Shore treatment plant
Metro Vancouver will try over spring and summer to get its much-delayed, over-budget new North Shore wastewater treatment plant back on track and devise a plan for completion of the now $1-billion project with the help of a new contractor. Derrick Penner reports. (Vancouver Sun)

Salish Current to host forum on importance of local news on March 17
The event, “Trust2022: Why Independent Local News is Important to a Strong Democracy,” will be held 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 17 via Zoom. Feature speakers include Washington state attorney general Bob Ferguson, Margaret Sullivan, a Washington Post columnist and author of “Ghosting the news: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy;” and Pulitzer Prize journalist Hedrick Smith. To register for the free event, visit salish-current.org/trust2022. (The Northern Light)

State partners with British Columbia on flooding response
Gov. Jay Inslee announced plans to develop a flooding prevention and response initiative with British Columbia Premier John Horgan.  The announcement, released [Tuesday] afternoon, comes after months of discussions related to November and December's Nooksack River flooding...The joint commission will announce details of the flooding initiatives later this Spring. Julia Lerner reports. (Cascadia Daily News)

WA wants to capture the natural gas leaking from landfills
Legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would require methane collection systems at certain landfills. John Stang reports. (Crosscut)

How clean energy could be good for Washington's wallet as well as the environment
As gas prices spike in Washington state and across the U.S., voices are calling for less reliance on foreign oil. To some, that means producing more oil domestically. But to others: "True energy independence means not being at the whims of the fossil fuel market." Katie Campbell and Angela King report. (KUOW)

Now, your tug weather--
West Entrance U.S. Waters Strait Of Juan De Fuca-  250 AM PDT Wed Mar 16 2022   
TODAY  SW wind to 10 kt becoming E 5 to 15 kt in the afternoon.  Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 9 ft at 13 seconds. A slight  chance of showers. 
TONIGHT  SE wind 5 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell  8 ft at 12 seconds subsiding to 6 ft at 12 seconds after  midnight. A slight chance of rain in the evening then a chance of  rain after midnight.

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